Dig these spikes! (Metpost)

Member Name: dmandrew

Product:	Metpost
Date:	10/04/08 (2493 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Save time and effort when putting in wooden posts

Disadvantages: Quite expensive

Post spikes are fantastic things for making the job of putting fence posts in your garden a whole lot easier. The traditional method for this involves digging a hole about three feet deep, and then setting the post inside it using concrete and hard core. The posts would stay in, but for a five foot post you had to buy an eight foot length, and putting each one in would take a sizeable amount of time.

A post spike is a substantial construction made from steel, and usually painted green, or brown or rust red, to blend in with your garden. The spike part is 18 inches to 30 inches long, on top of which is a cage that encloses and grips on to the bottom six inches or so of the post. In the case of the Metpost, the grip is provided in one of two ways - either by inner ridges that grip the wooden post as it is pressed into the cage, of by two tightening bolts.

To get post spikes in the ground, you need a sledge hammer - try a few for size and feel, and choose the heaviest that you can control well. If it is too light, you will take too long over putting a spike in, and if too heavy you will possibly either get too tired or have an injury by not being in control. So find that middle ground.

You don't hit the Metpost directly. You either buy the Metpost Driving Tool, which is a cuboid of resin with a useful metal arrangement at the top, or you use a lump of wood. The Driving Tool, which costs about a tenner, lasts for ages - I have put in about 150 post spikes at home, and it is still going strong. The metal at the top helps you align the spike correctly as it is going down.

You also need a spirit level, to check the vertical alignment of the spike in two planes. Other more general things you will need are measuring devices, and a good saw for the wood - I use an electric one, a Bosch, which I shall review in due course.

Having planned where the posts are to go, you apply yourself with the sledgehammer. To start with, the posts go in quickly, because it's the thin end of the spike that goes in first. You have to be careful not to be too enthusiastic in your post bashing, because there comes a point at which it becomes noticeably harder to adjust the alignment. Once it's in about halfway, I check alignment adjust, and then give it for or five more sledgehammer strokes before checking again. After a certain point further on, the alignment gets petty well fixed so you have to have got it right by then. When the spike is fully in, with the bottom of the cage resting on the ground, you insert the post. Usually this has to be tapped down with the sledgehammer, although if it is a tight fit, you will want to protect the top of the post. It's a good idea to check the alignment after the post is in. If it's a little bit out, then there's enough give in wood for that not to matter. More than a centimetre out of true and you might want to pack the joint of post and any horizontal piece of wood with a little bit of scrap wood (always keep offcuts!). Worse than this, well you should have noticed earlier - and you might want to take the post out and start again. If you rock the post from side to side, the whole thing will usually come out with the spike attached. You can than reinsert the combined post and spike into a new place, taking care to get your alignment right this time.

Metposts cost between £5 and £9 so if you have a lot of posts you are going to spend quite a bit. But they do make the whole job a great deal easier. You can do as much or as little as you want in a day, and don't have the bother of mixing up cement and having to use it before it goes off.

There are Metpost spikes for three basic sizes of square section post - 50mm, 75mm or 100mm - 2, 3, or 4 inches in old money. The 50 mm Metpost has a 450 mm spike. That for a 75mm post comes with either a 600 or 750 mm spike, and the 100 mm Metpost is also 750 mm long.

Other useful products, which I have seen but not used are the following:

· The Metpost Repair Spur, which you can use if a post has broken off or rotted away and it is set in sound concrete.
· The Metpost Post Extender, which can be used to join two lengths of post together.
· The Metpost Concrete-In, which is used if you have no choice but have to set the posts into concrete.
· The Metpost Bolt-Down, which fixes to a hard surface.

UPDATE
So, if you are planning a fencing project, take a good look at Metposts. There are a few competitor items on the market, so you could check out those too. But our Metposts have no been in the ground for twelve years and have shown no problems, so I would certainly trust them again.

Summary: Versatile products for erecting fencing without digging holes